How old were you when you first started doing chores, do you do chores?
When I was 3 years old, me and my mom were walking to home depot. When we got into the parking lot, she turned to me and said “how would you like to make some money?” She told me I could make $5 a week if I cleaned the dishes but I, as a master negotiator, managed to convince her to give me 3 whole bucks a week. And from that day forward I would do the dishes everyday and my mother would pay me $3 once in a while. I felt bad asking her and she usually forgot so it wasn’t a very steady stream of income, but to me I was basically a millionaire. I could finally afford all my expensive hobbies like playing with sticks and shoving macaroni noodles up my nose. Once I turned 8 my mom made a new deal with me. She said “Do you want to clean the bathroom as well?” and I responded with “Will I be receiving a raise for my new position?” and she said “No.” I was sold. To this day I still do the dishes and clean the bathroom, and my payment has been increased from $3 a week to sometimes my mom will buy me lunch.
Pictured is how I felt after my masterful negotiation sessions
Do you think children should grow up with Japanese ideals of independance?
I think that teaching kids maturity and independence at a young age is very important and should be done everywhere it can be. However, it is a lot safer in Japan than it is in Canada. If the safety levels here were the same as in Japan, then I would say absolutely, as it makes kids feel more independent and free while also teaching them how to survive on their own, but it just simply isn’t safe enough here to let kids as young as 3 go out on their own. Drivers here are much more reckless and may not see small children crossing the road, and robbers would have a much easier time mugging toddlers than adults who can defend themselves. Japan also has systems in place to make sure that kids walking alone are safe, like having volunteers who monitor kids walking to and from school to make sure they get there safely, or having elementary school students wear bright yellow hats so that they are visible to cars. I do, however, think parents should let kids be more independent from an earlier age here. Kids in Canada don’t really develop independence until high school, and usually don’t start running errands alone until they’ve moved out of their parents house and are adults. Parents could loosen up on their kids and let them walk small distances alone, like to their neighbors house or if they live close to a grocery store they can go pick up some groceries alone.
When did you first use transit by yourself, go somewhere on your own, go to school by yourself?
Back in the 4th grade, I was still attending daycare, and I had made enemies with daycare teachers. In fact, I was very close to being kicked out of the daycare entirely. I (and my parents) decided that instead of getting kicked out, I would leave and walk home from school on my own. So as the summer before my 5th year in grade school drew to a close, I halted my attendance at daycare. My mother walked me to school to show me the route, and I was ready to make the trek home on my own. When that first day of school started, I walked home all by myself. And come December, I was asking my grandma to pick me up because I was really lazy and fat and didn’t want to walk home. Once I graduated elementary school and began my middle school years though, something changed. I was now farther away from my home, well out of walking distance, and my grandmother no longer wanted to drive me to school. So I was forced to learn how to ride the bus. At first it was exciting, the bus was always a super fun time, and it stayed that way forever.
